


Pictures of You

by Enchantable



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Angst, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Pictures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-17
Updated: 2013-08-17
Packaged: 2017-12-23 20:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/930795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enchantable/pseuds/Enchantable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raleigh finds out that Mako and Chuck have a history together</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pictures of You

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Hi! Lovin' all the Pacific Rim fics! If you're still taking prompts then I'd really like to read Herc giving Mako a picture of her and Chuck as children and Raleigh's reaction to finding out that they used to be very good (possibly even best) friends.

He hears her crying. 

Well, not hears exactly. Her door is shut. But he swears he hears something and crosses the hallway. When he goes to knock on her door he finds it already open, as if she was waiting for him. Which, in the scheme of things, isn’t really all that surprising. His heart aches when he sees her. She’s curled up on the bed, facing the wall. Her face is buried in the pillow but he can hear the soft sounds she’s making.

Carefully he closes the door and turns the lock. He makes his way over to the bed and sits down before he eases himself back and fits his body around hers. She curls tighter around herself but he slides his arms along hers, wrapping her in his embrace. The only acknowledgement he gets is she lifts her head from the pillow, not trying to hide the tears anymore. 

It’s hours before she quiets. 

When she does she stills in his arms but makes no move to get up. He doesn’t force her to. He stays there, listens to her breathe. She moves her hand and he leans forward a little bit to see what her hand is hiding. He’s glad she can’t see the surpris on his face. 

A much younger Mako and Chuck Hansen are looking up at him. 

Their comfort with each other makes him raise his eyebrows because if he didn’t see it in front of him he wouldn’t have believed it was possible. Her hair’s longer, it falls in a braid over her shoulder. They’re holding staffs and wearing the same training uniform. Even Chuck looks innocent and Raleigh can barely wrap his head around what he’s seeing. 

"He got to become a pilot," Mako says softly after a moment in Japanese, “I was jealous."

He says nothing as she tells him about her disgraceful behavior. It doesn’t sound disgraceful to him, but he can hear the shame in her words. She was jealous. They were cut from the same cloth. Raised by pilots, mentored by heroes. Evenly matched in all exams and evaluations. But at the end of the day Herc decided to take his son to become a pilot. 

Mako felt left behind. 

She is not proud of her reaction, her lack of control over her emotions. She’s hurt and upset and doesn’t understand why but no-one will tell her. She’s still in the Jaeger program but her path has veered left while his is still straight ahead. She can barely stand to watch as Striker Eureka and her pilots become famous. 

She gets quieter and he gets louder and the distance grows wider and wider until it’s difficult to remember the two friends who were once thought to be drift compatible. 

Raleigh gently smoothes back her hair as she tells him everything. He doesn’t judge her. He knows how much of an ass Chuck can be, just as he knows how hard it is for Mako to have control over her emotions. She closes her eyes and he reaches out, gently wiping the few tears from her eyes.

She turns her face into his touch. His other hand slides around her back and he gently guides her so she’s tucked into his chest. He wraps both his arms around her and tangles their legs together. Her tears are much quieter but he can feel them all the same. He tightens her arms around her and is quiet as she clings to the memories and tries to figure out how to let her friend go.


End file.
